Your Perfect Partner for Taking That Next Step in Learning About Horses and Yourself

WEIGHT LIMITS FOR OUR STUDENTS

Most of our horses are 15 hands two inches or less. Because of the fact that we use smaller horses, we cannot take students who weigh more than 230 lbs.

Lesson Program

Welcome to the Timepiece Arabians Lesson page, here you will find information on our program. How it works, our philosophy, and what to expect for your first couple of times at the farm.

Our lesson program offers students a wide variety of learning opportunities, whether it is working the horse on the ground, riding, cleaning tack, or learning how to work with a group to accomplish tasks. We teach students how to safely maneuver around the horses both on the ground and while riding. Safety, learning responsibility, practicing critical thinking, all the while learning about the horse, are our main goals each and every lesson.

Our lesson program is designed to be a 3-hour block and there is a lot of information that goes into that time frame. Due to our unique program, we invite you to come tour the farm, meet the instructors, and see if Timepiece Arabians is a good fit for you or your child before signing up for lessons. We want you to have the opportunity to ask questions and get a feel for the farm so that you have a good idea of what future lessons will look like and what our philosophy truly is.

We divide our students up based on age and skill level. We offer group Lessons Tuesday through Friday from 4-7pm. Our Young Riders’ program is on Fridays, you can find more information on the Young Riders Program below.

Since our regular lessons are in a 3-hour block we break that block up to ensure the student feels confident and comfortable with the tasks they are doing. The first hour is catching, grooming and saddling the horse under the eye of an instructor or advanced student/mentor who is in the barn at all times. The second hour is the actual time in the saddle, while the final hour is taking care of the lesson horse, cleaning any gear used and learning to shut the barn down for the evening.

All lessons are $55. We do not give private lessons.

Our Regular lesson structure:

1. The first lesson taken will be about an hour long, and is called the "catching and grooming" lesson. In this lesson we teach how to walk up to a horse safely, put a halter on and lead the horse safely. We then teach how we want the horses to be groomed, both correctly and safely. We always give reason why we want certain things done and how we have evolved to the present teaching criteria.

2. The second lesson is a review of the first lesson PLUS information on putting tack on the horse. This lesson will be about an hour and a half long depending upon the age of the student. This is called the "groom and tack" lesson, and again we spend a great deal of time explaining exactly why we do what we do. We invite our students to ask as many questions and are always striving to clarify and explain.

3. The third lesson is the full 3-hour lesson. During the first hour, the students groom and tack their assigned horses always under the supervision of an instructor or advanced student/mentor, the second hour is full of groundwork and riding, while the third hour is untacking, grooming, putting the horse out, and cleaning the tack and learning how to close up the barn.

We have developed the lesson program in such a manner so that the students start to feel comfortable with the process and tasks of the 3-hour lesson. We feel that if students start with the 3-hour lesson they would be simply be overwhelmed with information.

Our motto is that we want to teach our students as much as we possibly can so that one day, if they wish, can take over our jobs. We teach all our students no matter the age, that there is a responsibility to care for the horses properly, to understand that one has to be responsible in life no matter the age, and that what they put into lessons is what they will get out of them. That the lessons learned with horses are lessons applicable to working, school and all of life itself.

Melissa Czichas

Instructor

Melissa Czichas is our newest instructor here at TPA. She works as a family therapist outside of TPA and has taught and counseled youth, young adults, and caregivers for over ten years. She currently runs the Young Riders Program for our youngest students while working fulltime and taking time to sharpen her own riding skills.

Kelsi Mayther

Instructor

Kelsi has over 11 years of teaching experience in the equestrian field and has graduated from WSU. She is back at TPA giving Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced lessons. Kelsi currently has her pony in the straight up bridle and we are so proud of her and Elf. Like all of our students, Kelsi can navigate a cross country course, jump a stadium course, quietly move through an obstacle course, or rope a small cow.

AGE LIMITS FOR OUR main lesson program

Because our Main lesson program can be very labor and time intensive, we prefer not to take students less than 9 years old. We suggest that you come out and visit our farm to learn more about our lessons and to see if we're a great fit.

Please call or visit Nature Nurture at http://www.naturenurturesfarm.org/ or Keev Farm at http://www.keevfarm.com for the availability of programs for younger students. They have incredible programs for for students who may not have the time available for our program.

Jordyn Hanchett

Instructor and Barn Manager

Jordyn has over 11 years experience of teaching in the equestrian field She teaches Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced students and rides her own horse in the two rein while working on a variety of other horses, bringing them along slowly and carefully. Jordyn divides her time between the Farm, a regular job and going to college where she is studying to be an accountant.

Meet Our Instructors!

young riders program for OUR youngEST students

We started our Young Riders Program in January 2017 for young students age 6-8 who would like to be around horses and would like to start their lifelong education with horses. To this end, we welcome Melissa Czichas to our teaching program. She creates a fun atmosphere and individualizes the program to each young student. Lesson length and number of students per lesson depends on the riding level and age of the student. For more information, please call the farm and ask any questions, or set up a time to come and visit and watch Melissa work with a young student.

Hard Hats and equipment needed

We provide hard helmets for the first four lessons. After that, we ask that you buy your own helmet and make sure that your name is in it. Please wear boots with a heel. We do not work around horses in tennis shoes, school shoes or anything other than either English or Western type boots. Boots do not need to be expensive but they do need to have a heel. Often students outgrow boots and they can be found in our "back room" of items to be given away or sold.